Happy New Year

Stunning photographs of staircases I received in the mail today.


All of us at qerat would like to wish you A HAPPY NEW YEAR. May the coming year be full of love & happiness and your life an upward journey to success.

Al Salt -3- The Doors

The doors of AL Salt have been the source of inspiration for many artists, painters and photographers alike. I had to see for myself. I was equally inspired and had to share them with all of you.







We leave you with this magnificent door. Hope you liked Al Salt series.

Merry Christmas Everyone & Happy Birthday Shaker

Merry Christmas everyone.
I wish happiness, health & prosperity to all our readers, friends and family. Today is also a special day for us for another reason, it is my brother's birthday.


Not only is he my baby brother and we work together, but, he is one of my favourite artists to say the least. I fell in love with Shaker's paintings since he was 8 or 9 when he drew his first Tweety and Mickey Mouse to perfection. I fell in love with his art when he was 13 and tried to discover his own path with paintings that looked much older and more sophisticated than his age. I still love his paintings when he is 34 and will only look forward to see what he will dream up next.


So Happy birthday Shaker.
Love
Tareq

Al Salt -2- Saint George Church

My trip to Al Salt was primarily to visit this old beautiful church. After seeing it I thought it would be the perfect post for Christmas. SO, here is a great big Merry Christmas to all our friends all over the world. We wish you a peaceful beautiful holiday and a wonderful New Year full of happiness, love and serenity.


One day a man from one of the prominent families of Al Salt took his sheep out of the castle to graze. He went back late in the evening to find that the castle doors were already closed for the night as they normally closed them after sunset and would not open them again until the following morning. He found a nearby cave and spent the night there. During the night he was awakened by the voice of Saint George who appeared to him riding on a horse and holding his spear.
The Saint asked the religious man to build a church in his name on this holy site and as a sign he asked him to leave his sheep to graze alone and no beast will touch them. The following morning the man told everyone of his vision. The village people went to the cave and found the sheep surrounded by wolves only to flee when it saw the people. They believed the man and built the church. So goes the legend of how this beautiful church was built.
Since the third quarter of the seventh century the church of St. George has been one of the attractions of visitors and pilgrims from Jordan and all over the world. Many people also believe that many miracles have happened in this church.





The ancient cave where people pray asking St. George each for their own miracle to happen. It is said that this cave is the original holy site used for prayers since the 3rd century A.D.

Al Salt -1- The City

Al Salt, pronounced "As sult" is in the west central part of Jordan. I have been several times to this beautiful city but never really visited it. In the past, many artists have drawn inspirtion from its ancient houses and their beautiful doors, it's nature and light and history. So this past Al Adha holiday I decided to go see for myself especially after a friend visited the old church of Saint George. The pictures he brought back with him intrigued me to go take my own pictures and post about it. It was such a beautiful day. A beautiful and inspiring walk back in time which left me feeling exhilirated and full of inspiration.

The Butterfly

From The Marlene Collection this is our Butterfly Chair. It was made in several fabrics, beige linen, brown suede, burgundy art deco inspired fabric, this blue one somehow looks a lot like the actual butterfly that inspired it.

Another Centipede

From the Spider Collection this is The Centipede. This collection is defenitely modern in its clean lines and curves. With this piece however, I wanted to hint at classical detailing with the grooves under the top, the black inlaid lines on the top and the curved legs.

Laila Screen

From our Shehrayar collection this is the Laila screen. In Arabic Laila means night, or the dark night.
The arabesques are very old Islamic designs that were given a new life by abstracting them, taking a small part of a larger design and enlarging the original size tens of times. Each panel is made of 4 squares measuring 50 cms each. It is a great visual separator in rooms that can be modern, classic or eclectic. I would love to see it with leather couches and some Stainless steel accents. This piece was made of Cherry and Solid Beech.

A Moment In Time

Every now and then I take a pictures of a certain display or setup at our showroom and I like it more than others. I keep them hidden in my folders away from the ones that are professionally taken. These pictures are more personal. They might have a fond memory or a nice event attached to them. This is a picture from that private folder from the year 2000.
The event? Our annual showroom reception party.

Hope you like it
Tareq

Happy Eid Al Adha

To all our family members, friends & clients, we wish you a very happy Eid Al-Adha. We wish you peace, well being and happiness. It is a long vacation so have fun and relax.

The picture above is from my home, this is the front of an old bridal chest that I found many years ago. It could either be Jordanian or Syrian and still has its original paint and colors. It now sits in this niche with a Syrian glass bottle in front of it. I love its details, colors and the little carved rosettes in the middle.



Happy Eid
Tareq

The Beautiful Zebra

I think Zebras are very elegant animals. Wouldn't you base a whole theme around this picture?
Dont the colors remind you of a beautiul bungalow in Africa? Beautiful white slip covered sofas, black cushions, a beige rug, rough textured walls the color of clay and white sheer fabric for the curtains. The room would have accents in the palest blue you can find.
Simply beautiful

Connie Chaise longue

This is a favorite Chaise longue. It was conceived at one of those moments when you feel good, artistic and "curvy". A moment when you sketch something freehand and it feels complete, ready to be manufactured. My friends always say that I cannot move away from straight lines, well, here is the proof.

But this will be a favorite chaise for other reasons too. I decided to name it after my dear friend Connie from Texas, who passed away last week. We had this little private joke, Connie would always say chaise "lounge" and I would correct her and make fun of it and tell her it is Chaise "Longue" stressing the French accent & trying to be smart with the little French I know. I will always smile whenever I see this piece.
She will always be loved & remembered as my dear dear friend and one of the nicest kindest people I ever knew. Her heart was as big as the unconditional love she offered to everyone in her life. Naming a piece I designed after her is my little tribute to this great person.